Full Stack Lead Developer - UX/UI Focused (Web and Digital) - IT Services - 100938 - Grade 8

The Lead Full Stack Developer (Web and Digital) leads the design, development and delivery of modern digital services across web, mobile and API platforms. The role combines hands on software engineering, UX and UI design ownership, and technical leadership. The post holder designs user centred digital services while actively contributing to codebases using modern frameworks, cloud platforms and AI assisted development practices.

The Lead Full Stack Developer works across frontend, backend and service integration layers to deliver secure, scalable and accessible solutions aligned with University standards and user needs. The role drives engineering quality, promotes modern development practices and supports teams in adopting emerging technologies including AI assisted software development.

Roles at this level will require in-depth specialist technical/specialist/IT expertise. Role holders may have supervisory responsibility for a technical service or team, where the primary focus will be on planning, overseeing and reviewing the work of the team and/or will operate as individual technical, specialist or IT experts either supporting service delivery or contributing directly to local project implementation or problem solving through the provision of specialist support activity.

Working as part of IT Services and wider teams to monitor satisfaction levels and engage with students and staff to understand where usability, design and accessibility improvements are needed.

Main Duties

Technical Leadership

• Lead end to end delivery of web, mobile and digital platforms
• Define technical architecture for full stack applications
• Act as senior technical authority across frontend, backend and API development
• Establish coding standards, development workflows and engineering best practice
• Mentor developers and promote continuous technical improvement
• Support adoption of AI assisted development tools to improve productivity and quality

Full Stack Development

• Design, build and maintain modern frontend applications using current frameworks
• Develop backend services using Node.js, C#/.NET or equivalent enterprise frameworks
• Design and implement RESTful and service based APIs
• Integrate internal and third party systems through secure APIs and services
• Contribute hands on code across frontend and backend layers
• Ensure performance, scalability, maintainability and security of applications

UX and UI Ownership

• Lead UX and UI design alongside development activities
• Translate user research into usable digital interfaces
• Create wireframes, prototypes and interface designs where required
• Embed accessibility and usability into development lifecycle
• Ensure compliance with WCAG and Public Sector accessibility regulations
• Work directly with stakeholders to improve user journeys and service outcomes

Mobile Development

• Support development of mobile applications and responsive web solutions
• Provide expertise in cross platform mobile development approaches
• Ensure consistent user experience across desktop, tablet and mobile devices
• Mobile development expertise is considered a strong advantage

Software Engineering and Delivery

• Lead agile delivery within Scrum or Kanban teams
• Participate in solution design, development, testing and deployment
• Promote DevOps practices including CI/CD pipelines and automated testing
• Collaborate with QA teams to ensure high software quality
• Support release management and deployment processes

API and Service Integration

• Design scalable service architectures
• Build reusable APIs and shared services
• Integrate authentication platforms such as Azure AD and OAuth2
• Ensure secure data exchange between systems
• Support cloud native and microservice based solutions

Innovation and Emerging Technology

• Monitor modern web, AI and software engineering trends
• Evaluate AI tools for software development, automation and user experience improvement
• Introduce modern frameworks, tooling and development approaches
• Drive continuous improvement across Web and Digital engineering practices

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Work with product owners, designers, analysts and stakeholders to shape solutions
• Translate business requirements into technical solutions
• Provide technical guidance during planning and discovery phases
• Support procurement, supplier evaluation and technical decision making

General

• Actively manages equality, diversity and inclusion through monitoring and evaluation and actively challenging unacceptable behaviour.
• Supports the University's sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
• Any other duties commensurate with the grade.

• Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) in Computer Science, Software Engineering, other related discipline, or relevant technical qualification and considerable relevant experience. Where no equivalent qualification is held, significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a series of more demanding roles will be required demonstrating the conceptual understanding required.
• Strong full stack software development experience across frontend and backend technologies.
• Experience with modern frontend frameworks such as React, Angular, Vue or equivalent.
• Advanced knowledge of JavaScript, HTML5, CSS and responsive web design principles.
• Proven experience developing backend services using Node.js or C#/.NET frameworks.
• Experience designing and implementing RESTful APIs and service based integrations.
• Strong understanding of authentication and authorisation methods including OAuth2 and Azure AD.
• Experience integrating enterprise and third party systems through APIs.
• Experience working with relational or NoSQL databases and data modelling practices.
• Experience developing accessible digital services aligned with WCAG and Public Sector Accessibility Regulations.
• Ability to lead UX and UI design activities alongside software development.
• Experience translating user requirements into usable interface designs and user journeys.
• Experience working with cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure or equivalent.
• Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, automated deployment and DevOps practices.
• Strong understanding of secure coding practices and application security principles.
• Experience working within Agile delivery environments such as Scrum or Kanban.
• Ability to mentor developers and establish engineering standards and best practice.
• Awareness and practical use of AI assisted development tools within software engineering workflows.
• Experience of championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in own work area.
• Ability to monitor and evaluate the extent to which equality and diversity legislation, policies, procedures are applied.
• Ability to identify issues with the potential to impact on protected groups and take appropriate action.

Desired

• Experience delivering cross platform mobile applications using Flutter, React Native, MAUI or equivalent frameworks.
• Experience building cloud native or microservice architectures.
• Experience implementing automated testing including unit, integration and end to end testing.
• Experience creating or maintaining design systems or component libraries.
• Experience in WordPress blogs and hosting websites.
• Experience with containerisation technologies and modern deployment approaches.
• Experience integrating AI services or machine learning APIs into digital products.
• Experience supporting enterprise scale digital platforms within large organisations.
• Knowledge of performance optimisation, monitoring and observability tooling.
• Experience contributing to technical strategy, architecture governance or technology roadmaps. Experience working within higher education, public sector or regulated environments.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success. We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University. We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work. Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries. The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens. Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham Background The University of Birmingham is a global institution working within a diverse and vibrant City, offering an inspiring education to our students, and undertaking critically important research. We are a place of open, critical thinking, and the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge. Professional Services put students at the heart of all they do and enable an exceptional educational experience. They provide outstanding support to our researchers and help the University to grow its influence regionally, nationally, and globally. They ensure the University's resources are used wisely, manage and improve the infrastructure which sits at the heart of the institution, and support decisions to be made quickly and based on sound evidence. Our Birmingham Professional programme operates across the University, supporting colleagues to network and collaborate, offering opportunities to learn and develop, contributing to the delivery of the University's objectives, and helping everyone to understand the broader context within which we work., The role of IT Services is to ensure that the University of Birmingham community has access to responsive, resilient, secure and accessible systems and support. Our technologies enable our students, staff, researchers, visitors, and partners to confidently and creatively use digital services, technology, and data for the benefit of their learning, teaching, research, or work. IT Services are building a culture of innovation, collaboration, openness, and inclusivity, and we apply the principles of customer focus and continuous improvement to everything we do. We want to attract outstanding, inspirational, and talented people, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success. Our IT Services division has an active People and Culture network and Women in IT group, bi-annual making IT happen awards recognition programme, and Social Committee which arranges regular activities and events for colleagues. With a new Digital Strategy, this is an exciting opportunity to join the team making IT happen at the University of Birmingham.